The Russian kettlebell was first recorded in 1704 and made its way to the North American market training culture in the 1980’s. Not only does it give you the benefits of strength training, you get an impressive caloric burn of 20 calories/minute, this according to an ACE (American Council on Exercise) study.

Kettlebell training is not only strength and a great calorie burner that’s low impact but also brings functionality to the table. Its unique shape provides an uneven load that engages stabilizing muscles that force you to engage and train your body. While strength training, calorie burn and functional training is a very important part of this training tool, I am going to ask you to lean in with me on this one and be curious. I am going to change the narrative on this article and shift the focus to grounding and “feeling” connected.

The benefit behind training barefoot is relatively new to society’s awareness but has been studied. We have learned from different studies that barefoot training can potentially increase the abilities to run faster, hence the market for the runner that allows us to have more actual contact with our running surfaces. As our society struggles to maintain being connected to each other, ourselves and to nature, let’s look at how training barefoot can create a connection within ourselves and with the surface we train on.

Going a step further in looking at barefoot training there is a grounding effect that takes place. Think of how you feel when you take your shoes off or the sensation when you walk in the sand. It allows connection and more importantly, in a culture of being busy for long hours in shoes on unnatural surfaces, it gives us the opportunity to strengthen our feet and ankles in a natural state.

This not only gives us the benefit of grounding / feeling the surface beneath us but the benefit of tactile contact for strength and mobility in our feet. Think of it like this – we overlook the exact part of our body that we expect to get us from point A to B. Our balance comes largely from our feet. Now let’s get more curious about training kettlebells in bare feet.

When you do a kettlebell swing in shoes versus barefoot, as an instructor I watch for shifting of the feet. I can see it in shoes or barefoot, but what is interesting is that if I ask the client to remove their shoes, most often they can then feel the shifting as they can ground themselves as they actually feel it.

Many of us will be able to relate to the feeling of lifting a weight that causes a sense of presence or grounding.

Now imagine in kettlebell the weight has momentum, that makes you explicitly have to ground your feet, so you don’t get unbalanced. Three things happen here:

• You must literally ground your feet which are barefoot
• You are creating a more intimate mind body connection – increasing your neuromuscular efficiency Your mind and
• Internal energy must be pulled inwards creating you to have to become present.

It is the training that makes you focus so that you can LIVE in the moment and isn’t that the greatest connection we are looking for?

For years I have taught trainers and clients, and the commonality is that time does fly when you are present in your training. Where your mind which was scattered throughout the day’s events is now focused you may have a sense of wellbeing, self-awareness and inner connection, not only within yourself, but in your physical space. As repeatedly stated, “it’s always been about more than a kettlebell.”

About Jodi Barrett

After 11 years of being a stay-at-home mom, Jodi decided to change life lanes. Launching Kettlebell Kickboxing Canada in 2017!  She then opened her flagship location and created an online hybrid model in the middle of a pandemic, launched 2 Successful Wellness Retreats in 2023, published her first memoir in 2023 and now owns and operates KBSTRONGER Training and Certification Program in 2024. Her passion is movement and her purpose is to guide and serve others.

Jodi has achieved the a BA in Physical Activity Studies (Major Fitness/Lifestyle), KBIA Master Level Trainer (Kettlebell Certification Program), MKC Certification  (Maxwell Kettlebell Certification) and a KBStronger Certification.